Desert Nude

Wandering in the Wilderness . . .
It was a boyhood fantasy, coming
across a bare-breasted beauty in some
deserted place where she might rely on me
to rescue her, and her all willing
to reward my capable action with
tenderness and something undefined . . .
 
But now a man, I find myself here
in this deserted place, with this bare-
breasted young [...]

Ulysses

After Twenty Years Estranged
You wouldn’t believe, Penelope, things I’ve seen;
I barely believe myself. Such wonders in the wide,
wild world. But no beauty above your own, greater
now even than when I left, unwilling, to tear down
walls at Troy and slaughter hapless men whose
only sin was to raise a sword or spear against me.
But even after, I [...]

Wild

 
My Wild Love
Must have been the wine . . . can’t seem to recall
how I found you there, lying naked on
a spread out leopard skin, or at least
something patterned that way. Oh, and that
convenient golden sash. But mostly
I recall the haunting challenge of boredom
in bedroom eyes, at once sad and longing.
The pout of your [...]

Psalm to Bathsheba

Song for Bathsheba
Bathing as an angel, you, my naked
beauty! From first I saw you airing dry,
I knew my heart gone, saw cupid take it
 
oh brutal arrow! slayer of three, make it
right to wrongly act! Oh, but tell me why,
bathing angel, you stood outside naked
 
for me to see . . . my heart now yours, rake [...]

Showers

After Spring Showers
Her beauty is the sky of my world, her flesh
my earth, her blood the rivers and ocean,
her eyes peridots faceted and star-brilliant,
her bones and hair are every forest and brush;
I fall to worship as drops roll down those hills
toward southern climbs, where the triangle
of her altar to femininity calls me to worship
and I [...]

Bathing Beauties

Bathing Beauties
What is it makes bathing bodies so compelling?
Beside the natural urge toward procreation,
I mean. A certain beauty. Certainly that, though
that too often depends on the bather or bathers
in particular. Is it the vibrancy of health,
or perhaps the symmetry of the human form—
when it is symmetrical, anyway. What is it
that draws the eyes to the [...]

Tanner’s Demise

Thief of Kisses
He was a fiend of hearts, was Jon Tanner;
seducer of women by wine and by song.
But one day a maiden too fair did Tanner
meet and kisses steal and away into the night
stole as though no promise lied through
puckered lips might hold him to a single
heart. But Duke Marinton’s daughter
had no will [...]

Kill the Critic

Killing the Inner Critic
You can’t do that!
          I hear far back in my head.
Poetry is serious stuff!
          It is my voice, when I’m dry.
You must be deliberate!
          Best ignored.
Where’s your rhyme scheme?
          Can’t speak—only scream.
No wonder nobody’ll publish you!
          Narrow and hostile, too.
Poetry doesn’t work like that!
          Protective of something sacred.
Don’t you have [...]

James Princeton Gar Returns

In the Cavern of the Sea Nymphs
You read about this sort of thing all the time
in myths and fairytales. But I, James Princeton
Gar, stand here to tell you, son: I seen ‘em!
Twas in the Indian Ocean, when I for the Queen
captained a ship and crew of swarthy seamen
salty as the brine and wily as any [...]

Scenic Park

Walk in the Park
A lot of things can change in a century;
parks seem to be one of those things—
and museums. Take this painting for example;
when is the last time you took a walk in the park
and found a nude woman? Or the last time
you saw a nude woman? With a skull?
With a cross? With both? [...]